Rail bond



Jan. 23, 1934. P. P. PIPES 1,944,366

RAIL B'OND Filed Aug. 7, 1931 ,4 J j F2612 a NY P P p:

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lnvenlor A tlo rney Patented Jan. 23, 1934 UNITED STATES RAIL BOND Pliny P. Pipes, Mansfield, Ohio, assignor to The v Ohio Brass Company, Mansfield, Ohio, a corporation of New Jersey Application August 7, 1931. Serial No. 555,678

8' Claims.

My invention relates to bonds for electrically connecting the adjacent ends of rails.

The object of my invention is to provide a simple, inexpensive and efficient bond which may be applied to the rail by welding.

My invention resides in the new and novel construction, combination and relation of various parts herein described and shown in the accompanying drawing.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1A shows one form on bond terminal.

Fig. 1B shows another form or modification of a bond terminal.

Fig. 2 shows a top view. of the terminal shown in Fig. 1B.

Fig. 3 shows an end view of the terminal in Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 shows an end view of the terminal shown in Fig. 1A, and also in Fig. 2 without the hook attached as later described.

Fig. 5 is an inner end view of the terminal shown in Fig. 1A before the cable is attached and in Fig. 13 before the cable and hook are attached.

Fig. 6 is a top view of Fig. 1A terminal without hook.

Fig. 7 is a top view of Fig. 1B before cable is attached. a

Fig. 8 shows the cable assembled with two sleeves before attachment to the portion of terminal shown in Figs. 6 and 7.

Fig. 9 is a perspective view of the hook employed in the terminal of Fig. 7.

Fig. 10 is a sectional VlGW on the line 10-10 of Fig. 6.

Fig. 11 is a sectional view on the line 11-11 of Fig. 6.

Fig. 12 is a longitudinal sectional view of the modification of the terminal shown in Fig. 1A as later described.

In the preferred embodiment of my invention I employ a terminal composed of a plurality of parts which together with the bond body are united by means of a butt weld secured through the use of the electric current.

The construction lends itself to several modifications of the completed bond.

It will be recognized that in the case of both Figs. 1A and 13 that only one end of a complete bond is shown, in other words, the bond would consist of a body 1 in either case and on each end of the body 1 would be a terminal as shown in Fig. 1A or in Fig. 113 depending upon whether the completed bond was to be provided with the hook portion shown in Fig. 9 or not.

In construction and manufacture of my invention I form up preferably of steel or iron a terminal member 2 which has an end face obliquely disposed to the plane of the lower face of the terminal and as indicated at a, the angle may be about 10 and. the object is to throw the'axis of the body and the body itself away from the rail base to which the bond is attached.

The terminal has preferably a triangular cross section as shown in Figs. '10 and 11 and the three faces are triangular in shape and one face a: is obliquely disposed to the rail face and forms with the face of the rail a receptacle for the application of attaching metal preferably by means of the electric arc. The'edge along the face a: is angularly disposed to the edge along the opposite face y. In applying the bond to the rail the edge of the face y is preferably placed parallel with the edge of the rail base and the edge of the face 2/ is parallel with the longitudinal axis of the cable or body 1. By making the edge of the face a: angularly disposed to the edge of the face y, it is possible to cover more rail area with the attaching metal without extending beyond the limits of the terminal in width or not much beyond and this is of value where the flange of the rail is quite narrow as is the case often with mine rails.

The angular receptacle measured by the oblique angle b shown in Fig. 10 and which is .filled with the welding metal also permits the application ofthe electric are much more efiiciently as it is possible to maintain the are at the end of the electrode which may be of metal and thus prevents the arc roaming or jumping fro-m the sides of the electrode to the face of the rail or terminal. I find that'the angle 0 in Fig. 10 may be made about 25 although angles of other extent may be used and the plane of the face y may be at right angles to that of the lower face a. g

I find it an advantage to place supports. or feet 3 on the lower face zof the terminals and extending crossways of the terminal thus raising the terminal'proper above the rail surface to which the terminal is applied. I find that this assists in permitting the attaching metal to be secured more readily and efficiently to the lower edge of the terminal and the rail, in other words, it is possible to'cause the welding metal to flow into the extreme apex of the angle 12. The space produced by the feet 3 is also of great advantage when applying the welding metal by means of the oxyacetylene flame as it prevents a rebound of the flame and permits thoroughly heating and fusing the metal of the terminal and rail at the apex of the angle b.

The terminals are produced with a slight pro jection 4 along the outer edge and if it is desired to equip the terminals with the hook shaped member 5 shown in Fig. 9, it is then only necessary to weld the edge 6 to the edge of the projection t which may be done by what is known as butt or flash welding. It will thus be seen that the terminal proper may be used for two types of bonds, that is, one without the hook 5 to grip the rail and the other with the-hook 5 to grip the rail.

The body member 1 is composed usually of a cable having a plurality of wires to give flexibility and this cable is cut to the required length of the bond and about each end of the cable is a sleeve 7 preferably of iron or steel which'may be of seamless tubing or a sleeve having a longitudinal split 8 and would consist of a sleeve formed up of a strip of flat metal. Interposed between the sleeve 7 and the body 1 is a sleeve 9 of thin copper which projects beyond the outer edge 10 of the sleeve 7 and'projects the strands against being cut by the harder metal of the sleeve 7 and also tends to increase the life the body 1 by absorbing vibrations of the body before they reach the sleeve 7.

Having assembled the body and sleeves 7 and 9, they are butt or flash welded to the end face 11' of the terminal so as to unite the three parts to the terminal by direct welded union.

In Fig. 12'isshown a modification in that in place of the weld between the body 1 and sleeves 7 and 9 being at the end face 11, I recess the terminal and provide a cavity 12 to receive the members 1', 7 and 9 and produce the weld between the parts at the facel3 of the cavity In this construction the sleeve land body 1 are supported by the side walls or flange 14 of cavity 12. 1

If the bond is formed with both terminals as in Fig. 1A then the bond may be placed at any position on the rail base and welding metal can be applied to faces a: and y of the terminal.

The particular shape of the terminal is uniformly decreasing in area in a direction away from the strand thus giving a more constant current density throughout the terminal with maxi- 'murn emciency for given current requirements.

- The bond may be made without the sleeve 9 if desired. Also if desired, the body 1 may be composed of wires of ferrous metal and of various grades suchas high content carbon giving stiffness and resiliency, or of alloy steel including stainless steel or of low carbon content or of substantially pure iron or the body may be made of a combination ofwires, some of copper and some of ferrous metals.

I claim:--- 1 V l. A rail bond to be welded to a rail comprising a body with an elongated terminal at each end butt welded to the end faces of the body, sleeves of metal surrounding the body at each end and gripping the body and butt welded to the end face of the adjacent terminal, a sleeve of metal thinnerthan that of the first sleeve interposed between each of the first said sleeves and body; the terminal having three longitudinal faces and a triangular cross section tapering from a maximum at the welded end to a minimum at the opposite end, one face being triangularly shaped and to be placed in juxtaposition to the rail surface to which the.bond is to be welded, another of the longitudinal faces resting in a plane which forms an obtuse angle with the rail surface, the last said terminal surface and the said rail surface forming a trough shaped receptacle to catch and retain molten welding metal and means spacing the first said longitudinal terminal surface from the rail surface.

2. A rail bond to be welded to a rail comprising a body with an elongated terminal at each end butt welded to the end faces of the body, sleeves of metal surrounding the body at each end and gripping the body and butt welded to the end face of the adjacent terminal, a sleeve of metal thinner than that of the first sleeves interposed between each of the first said sleeves and body; the

triangular cross section tapering from a maximum at the welded end to a minimum at the opposite end, one face being triangularly shaped and to be placed in juxtaposition to the rail surface, to which the bond is to be welded, another of the longitudinal faces resting in a plane which forms an obtuse angle with the rail surface, the last said terminal surface and the said rail surface forming a trough shaped receptacle to catch and retain molten welding metal, means spacing the first said longitudinal terminal surface from the rail surface and hook-shaped means to engage and grip the opposite face of the rail to that on which the bond is positioned.

3. A rail bond comprising a pair of spaced elongated terminals, each terminal having three triangularly shaped faces and a triangularly shaped cross section decreasing in area from a maximum at one end of the terminal to a minimum at the other end, the larger end of the terminal being recessed, a flexible body connecting the terminals and having its ends positioned in the recesses and the end faces of the body surface welded to the end faces within the recesses and a sleeve surrounding each body end and projecting into and out of the recess and welded to the terminal, means projecting from one longitudinal face of each terminal to ofiset theterminal from a rail surface, and a rail base engaging hook projecting from each terminal to hold the terminal to the rail.

4. A bond terminal comprising an elongated body having three triangularly shaped side faces, one face adapted for application to a rail surface and another face forming a receptacle withthe said rail surface to catch and retain molten welding metal, an end face angularly disposed to the first said face adapted for butt welding to a connecting member, means on the first said face to space it from the said rail surface, a circular projecting flange from the said end face forming a pocket to receive the end of the connecting member anda rail base engaging hook shaped member projecting from the side of the body to engage the rail and hold the terminal in place while welding.

5; A rail bond to be welded to a rail comprising a body with an elongated terminal at each end butt welded to the end faces of the body, sleeves of metal surrounding the body at each end and gripping the body and butt welded to the end face of the adjacent terminal, a sleeve of metal thinner than that of the first sleeves interposed between each of the first said sleeves and'body; the terminal having three longitudinal faces and a triangular cross section tapering from a maximum at the welded end to a minimum at the opposite end, one face being triangularly shaped and to be placed in juxtaposition to the rail surface, to which the bond is to be welded, another of the longitudinal faces resting in a plane which forms an obtuse angle with the rail surface, the last said terminal surface and the said rail surface forming a trough shaped receptacle to catch and retain molten welding metal, and hookshaped means to engage and grip the opposite face of the rail to that on which the bond is positioned.

6. A rail bond to be Welded to a rail comprising a body with an elongated terminal at each end butt welded to the end faces of the body, sleeves of metal surrounding the body at each end and gripping the body and buttwelded to the end face of the adjacent terminal; the terminal having three longitudinal faces and a triangular cross section tapering from a maximum at the welded end to a minimum at the opposite end, one face being triangularly shaped and to be placed in juxtaposition to the rail surface, to which the bond is to be welded, another of the longitudinal faces resting in a plane which forms an obtuse angle with the rail surface, the last said terminal surface and the said rail surface forming a trough shaped receptacle to catch and retain molten welding metal, means spacing the first said longitudinal terminal surface from the rail surface and hook-shaped means to engage and grip the opposite face of the rail to that on which the bond is positioned.

'7. A rail bond to be welded to a rail comprising a body with an elongated terminal at each end butt welded to the end faces of the body, sleeves of metal surrounding the body at each end and gripping the body and butt welded to the end face of the adjacent terminal; the terminal having three longitudinal faces and a triangular cross section tapering from a maximum at the welded end to a minimum at the opposite end, one face being triangularly shaped and to be placed in juxtaposition to the rail surface, to which the bond is to be welded and another of the longitudinal faces resting in a plane which forms an obtuse angle with the rail surface, the last said terminal surface and the said rail surface forming a trough shaped receptacle to catch and retain molten welding metal and hook-shaped means to engage and grip the opposite face of the rail to that on which the bond is positioned.

8. A bond terminal comprising an elongated body having three triangularly shaped side faces, one face adapted for application to a rail surface and another face forming the side wall of a receptacle of which the rail surface forms the bottom to retain molten metal in applying the terminal to a rail, the terminal having a triangularly shaped cross section tapering from a maximum at one'end to a minimum at the other end and the larger end having a recess to receive a cable in longitudinal alignment with the longitudinal axis of the terminal such that the end face of the cable may be butt welded to the bottom face of the recess, the diameter of the recess being greater than that of the cable to provide a clearance between the cable side surface and the inner side surface of the recess and a rail base engaging hook-shaped member projecting from the side of the body to engage the rail and hold the terminal in place while welding.

PLINY P. PIPES. 

